Committing to data-led wellbeing
The nature of what AWE does means being safe and secure are our fundamentals. And to support this, our people’s health and wellbeing is a priority. If our people come to work not at their best or in the right frame of mind, we can be faced with potentially heightened risks for safety and security.
It’s only right that our dedicated wellbeing strategy supports a vision of a thriving workforce, with long lasting good health and happiness. This is a key feature of our Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) commitments, and this year we’ve focused on establishing working groups within each of our business functions, to address local wellbeing needs.
AWE is a founder member of REBA (the Reward and Employee Benefits Association) and for years have attended REBA’s annual Wellbeing Congress to learn more about what other organisations are doing to support and improve their people’s wellbeing. This year I was invited to team up with our supplier Unum to deliver a joint presentation about health, happiness, and productivity.
The key point for us is everything we do is data-led. We run initiatives and programmes where the outcomes are measurable, to demonstrate the value both to our people and to our business.
We both agree interventions that deliver the most value are preventative or at an early stage. Which is why we’ve invested in providing our people with access to clinical services such as GP appointments, physiotherapy and mental health therapy. As well as access to professional support with lifestyle behaviours through digital personal training, nutrition consultations and lifestyle coaching.
There’s clear evidence now that those who are happy at work tend to take fewer sick days, with a WPI Economics study estimating 9 fewer sick days, alongside a boost in productivity when employees feel healthy. Line managers play a key role in supporting their team’s wellbeing, and Unum has provided our managers with guidance on how to have effective workplace wellbeing conversations.
Our people tell us we have a strong wellbeing provision, but we’re always looking to improve. That’s why we’ve signed the Business in the Community (BITC) Workwell Commitment. This framework helps us establish a benchmark and learn best practice from industry-leading organisations, as well as a public commitment that we will always strive to offer the best for our workforce.
